Judy and I have been married more than half a century, and we have experienced millions of things together. But thousands of times, I have had to leave my wife at home, while I went out for one reason or other. It might have been to come to the church building, or to buy something, or to visit someone. Time and time again, Judy has said one of two things as I have gone out door, the first being, “I love you.” But actually, going out the door, she has something else far more often.
I wonder how much money I would have if I had a dollar for every time Judy as told me, “Be careful?” To the best of my memory, she has never said that when we both got into the car. But several times when I have had come to the church building by myself, she has said, “Be careful.” I might have several thousand dollars if she handed me a dollar every time she’s said that. But then again, if I collected that money from my wife, I’d actually be no richer than I am today. What is it Judy was tying to tell me? Because it could be interpreted several ways: Was she implying I’m a horrible driver, and she doesn’t want to damage our car? Was she saying I’m prone to day-dreaming, not paying attention to the road or other drivers? Was she saying that if I didn’t pay attention, I’d get lost or forget where I was headed? Was she saying that the world is filled with other drivers, who are not as careful as they ought to be?
Paul wasn’t telling his friends in Philippi to be careful, but just the opposite – “Be careful for nothing.” What was HE thinking when he gave them this advice? Getting to the punch line right off the bat, he was saying “Don’t WORRY about anything.” “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Still picking on my wife, Judy has a little box with a slogan on it that says, “Don’t worry; Pray.” That is all Paul is saying. Do we need more explanation than that? Yes, we do – because apparently there were saints in Philippi who were worriers. And I’ll make an educated guess and say that there are a few people here who worry from time to time. Going beyond Paul, let’s let Christ Jesus interpret this Biblical principle.
Please turn to Matthew 6 and let’s read together verses 24-35. In verse 34 Jesus said, “Take therefore no thought for the tomorrow.” He was not condemning the making of plans for – or thinking about – tomorrow or next week. It is not only not sinful, but it is wise to try to think ahead to some limited degree. In some ways, I wish that I had made better plans for today, forty years ago – and twenty years ago. Without specifically considering March 4, 2026, if I had made some better choices half a century ago, I’d be better off today. (Marrying Judy is not one of them.) The Psalmist said, Lord, “teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” Jesus told us that we should build our house upon the rock rather than the sand, knowing, but not worrying about, the fact that there will be storms blowing upon our houses from time to time. Opposed to God-directed planning, worrying about tomorrow, or fifty years from now, is not only not wise, it is sinful.
There are occasions when God commands or forbids things and doesn’t explain to us the precisely why. At times the Lord leaves us to figure out those reasons logically. And sometimes we may never figure them out, because the “Lord’s ways are higher than our ways.” But then often enough the Lord carefully explains why He issues those commands. And this is one of those well-explained prohibitions. Matthew 6:25 – “Take no thought for your life what ye shall eat or drink.” First, because your life is more than food and clothing. Second, because your Father in Heaven, Who loves you, knows what you really need – verse 26. And third, because the providence of God will take care of tomorrow when we get there – verse 34. The Sermon on the Mount teaches us not to worry.
Think first about the NATURE of worry.
Verse 25 – “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” Everyone trusts some sort of god – everyone including the professed atheist. The god in whom people trust may be named “Jehovah,” or evolution, or fate, or Allah, or whatever. Quite often it is the unholy trinity: “me, myself and I.” We cannot help ourselves, but to trust in our own special god. It is a part of our nature. Whoever that god is, we think he is the source of our lives, so we trust him to to maintain it. Christians know that this God is Jehovah.
The Lord Jesus forces us to ask ourselves: “what use is it to me to worry about things – things such as food?” Keep in mind that this is really a segment of a larger question – life versus death. It takes food to keep us alive. Generally speaking, you and I have no control over the extent of our lives. But if we keep supplying food to our bodies, usually we will keep on living, moment by moment. Last Sunday, our lesson involved God’s control over our death, and the length of our lives. Peter, “when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whether thou wouldest not. This spake he signifying by what death Peter should glorify God.” If God wants us to live forty days in the wilderness in the midst of a famine, we will survive. If he wants us to prosper in the belly of a whale, it will all be good. Because what God wills for this life is always good. Period.
The Lord Jesus tells us to think about God’s care of His creation. He refers to birds and flowers. A botanist may say that a lily is more important and more beautiful than the sparrow. But the ornithologist might say just the opposite. Yet neither one would say that their favorite subject was more important than his wife. And neither would sacrifice one of his children in order to save a flower or a bird. But that is exactly what Jehovah has done for thousands of unworthy segments of his Creation. The Lord says that God cares for the needs of His creation – and that includes you. Every time you see a beautiful flower, a stately eagle, or a funny-looking wild turkey, that should be a reminder that worry is not fit for a Christian. The Lord takes pleasure in His creation – but even more particularly in His servants and children.
Something else which our Saviour emphasizes is our inability to help ourselves to any great degree. Those flowers and birds don’t plant seed or sew clothes. But not only does God care for us far more than for them, He has given to us the ability to sow – and sew. So ultimately, we have even less cause for worry than these tiny, insignificant bits of creation. That is, we can have some influence on tomorrow, while many other creatures can’t. And we should approach that opportunity with reverence and awe: “If the Lord be willing, tomorrow, we shall do this and that.” The sweat of our brow is not just a part of the curse, it is a blessing of God and a bit of glory as well. We ought to plan for tomorrow and include hard work in the plan – but worry is out of place. Notice that the Lord Jesus said, “YOUR Father feeds them.” He doesn’t say that their Father feeds them. As funny as it sounds, God is merely the Creator of lilies and sparrows; but, as Christians, He is our Father. We are above Jesus’ examples in so many different ways.
Perhaps you have heard the old, old illustration about the little boy on board the old sailing ship in the midst of the Atlantic hurricane. Some of the passengers were terrified that the ship would sink and everyone would drown. But the little child was as cool as a quart of cold ice cream. When someone asked him if he was frightened, he said that he wasn’t the least bit afraid, because his father was the captain of the ship. Isn’t our Father the captain of our ship? Or have you tried to wrest the captaincy from Him?
Another reason not to worry I will call the LESSON OF RELIGION.
Verse 32 – “(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” Worry belongs to the heathen – it is sin. Isn’t it the tendency of the heathen to emphasize earthly things over spiritual things? Having no concept of the spiritual, what else do they have to consider? Heaping up riches, and worrying about the protection of those treasures, is a part of that man’s religion. But someone doesn’t have to be extremely rich to participate in this kind of false worship. This is why Jesus said, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Worry about the collection of wealth, and worry about keeping it, are closely related.
Part of godly religion, however, is the “setting of our affections on things above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” Godly religion is to visit the fatherless and widows with the desire to share what God has given to us. Anxious care borders on idolatry according to the context of Jesus’ words. And I have heard that it is less a sin to curse and swear than to worry. I don’t know about that, but worry IS evidence of a serious lack of trust in Jehovah. It is a religious problem, a spiritual problem. It saddens, blights, destroys, and impoverishes the soul.
That is because worry is based on a misunderstanding of the character of the Lord. Remember, “Your Father knoweth that you have need of these things.” The god of the heathen is far removed from the interests of his pitiful people. But he Lord careth for us, and is even pleased that we bring our cares to His benevolent throne.
So Jesus encourages us to “seek first the Kingdom of God.” To tell a person not to worry isn’t much of a help, I admit that. Judy tells me to be careful, but I am no more careful when Judy tells me to be careful, than when she doesn’t tell me. Paul’s admonition isn’t enough. But if to his exhortation “don’t worry,” we add “seek the Lord,” then we can actually make some progress. The reduction or elimination of worry is greatly enhanced by filling the void with the things of God.
Christian, seek the Kingdom of God – serve God, study God and solicit God’s blessings.
And finally, worry is contrary to PROVIDENCE.
“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Different scholars interpret this last statement in different ways. But one of the common interpretations is that each and every day brings its own bundle of problems. If we are holding on to today’s problems, saving them for tomorrow, we are just adding problems to problems. But even worse, if we start worrying about tomorrow’s problem’s now, we move from adding to multiplying. Maybe we should try to compartmentalize our lives, at least in this one area. Nearly every modern ship, has doors by which the interior of that ship can be compartmentalized. If water somehow gets into one compartment, hopefully, when the doors can be shut and sealed that water can’t spread and sink the ship. That is the way that we need to approach the problems created by the storms in our lives. Compartmentalize, compartmentalize between days and weeks.
What does worry do? Does it guarantee that tomorrow will or won’t have its problems or its sorrows? Despite our imaginations, we can’t even be sure that tomorrow will have any sorrows at all. But certainly our fretting about what may or may not come our way doesn’t help. What our worrying about tomorrow does accomplish is the destruction of our strength and joy today. Worry is a proven medical killer; it poisons the nervous system, digestion, circulation and other things. If all the facts be known, worry has probably killed more than cancer ever has. It may be a contributor to most heart attacks, ulcers, and strokes, as well as hundreds of other plagues in Western civilization. Worry certainly robs people of their sleep – the God-given rebuilding time that our bodies require. God may chastize His people with problems because they worry.
Generally speaking, God gives Christians power to cope with the trials that He permits into our lives. “There hath no temptation (or trial) taken you but such as is common to man, But God is faithful, who shall not permit you to be tempted above that which ye are able, But will with the temptation also make a way to resist.” However, God has not given us any promise to help us with the trials which we imagine for ourselves. Here are two things about which we should never worry – things that we can’t control, and the things that we can deal with, right now.
Returning to Philippians, Paul says, “Be careful for nothing.” In our next lesson we’ll consider the conclusion to that thought: “but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”